Community | August 27, 2011 | 78 comments

What Did You Learn in School Today? (The Texas Version)

source: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/08/25-5

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Schnookums
Millions of Texas students head back to school this week confronted by a dramatically altered, state-mandated social studies curriculum.

The contentious hearings of the Texas State Board of Education received considerable attention in the spring of 2010, but seem to have fallen out of the public consciousness as the new school year begins. The new curriculum, officially called the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, deserves renewed attention, as it will undoubtedly surprise most Texans.

The fiercest battle during the board's hearings was fought over the 11th-grade history curriculum, which in Texas is "United States History since 1877." The exception to that timeline is the new state-mandated "Celebrate Freedom Week," during which students will learn about our founding fathers. That sounds simple enough, except that the only founding fathers included in the curriculum are Benjamin Rush, John Hancock, John Jay, John Witherspoon, John Peter Muhlenberg, Charles Carroll and Jonathan Trumbull Sr. What about George Washington, Thomas Jefferson or John Adams? They are nowhere to be found in the new high school TEKS. Students apparently learned everything they need to know about them in eighth grade.

As part of the board's effort to emphasize the positives in American history, students will no longer learn about "American imperialism." Instead students will discuss "American expansionism" and come to understand how "missionaries moved the United States into the position of a world power." The board eliminated mention of our government's use of propaganda during World War I, and instead of analyzing Truman's decision to use the atomic bomb at the end of World War II, students will now analyze the development of the bomb. Additionally, students will now "evaluate efforts by international organizations to undermine U.S. sovereignty."

Perhaps you have heard something about a labor movement in the 20th century? No longer will your children.......

Continue at:
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/08/25-5
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78 comments // What Did You Learn in School Today? (The Texas Version)

  • artemis6
  • bike10
  • hoosierdaddy
  • OlBlue
  • kvb1
    • +3
      kvb1  

    • Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself.

      As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda, in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience. Propaganda is often biased, with facts selectively presented (thus possibly lying by omission) to encourage a particular synthesis, or uses loaded messages to produce an emotional rather than rational response to the information presented. The desired result is a change of the attitude toward the subject in the target audience to further a political, or other type of agenda. Propaganda can be used as a form of political warfare.

      The propagandist seeks to change the way people understand an issue or situation for the purpose of changing their actions and expectations in ways that are desirable to the interest group. Propaganda, in this sense, serves as a corollary to censorship in which the same purpose is achieved, not by filling people's minds with approved information, but by preventing people from being confronted with opposing points of view. What sets propaganda apart from other forms of advocacy is the willingness of the propagandist to change people's understanding through deception and confusion rather than persuasion and understanding. The leaders of an organization know the information to be one sided or untrue, but this may not be true for the rank and file members who help to disseminate the propaganda.

      Propaganda may be administered in insidious ways. For instance, disparaging disinformation about the history of certain groups or foreign countries may be encouraged or tolerated in the educational system. Since few people actually double-check what they learn at school, such disinformation will be repeated by journalists as well as parents, thus reinforcing the idea that the disinformation item is really a "well-known fact", even though no one repeating the myth is able to point to an authoritative source. The disinformation is then recycled in the media and in the educational system, without the need for direct governmental intervention on the media. Such permeating propaganda may be used for political goals: by giving citizens a false impression of the quality or policies of their country, they may be incited to reject certain proposals or certain remarks or ignore the experience of others.

      - Wikipedia

    • 9 months ago
  • Schnookums
  • FoosMaster
  • mickyjon420
  • FoosMaster
    • +2
      FoosMaster  

    • SandyBerman commented below: “It never ceases to amaze me that so many republicans, baggers and right-wingers in general feel that an education is somehow a “liability”... that being an "intellectual" or an "academic" is somehow a “fault”…. that to be honored as part of an “elite” group of achievers somehow makes one worthy of contempt.”

      If you have noticed that since school the Bullies have always tried to belittle the intelligent kids through physical force and ridicule and that those same people today are mostly Tea Party supporters that are trying to force their policies on the majority with their money and political power.

      Every bully, *(nearly all of them were rich kids), I knew in school is now a Tea Party supporter. They never cared about the rights of others, it was always “might makes right” to them, and they still have the same attitudes today. They have always been and will always be the most selfish uncaring people you will ever meet. As long as they have “theirs” they care Nothing about anyone else.

      Now they are trying to bring everyone down to their level so that they can feel normal by changing our educational standards, funding, and curriculums. The sad part is that it is actually working for them.

      There are still many intelligent people and the information to fight this War on intelligence is out there but we need to step it up a level because we are beginning to fall further behind. I still feel optimistic that we have a Good opportunity to begin turning things around this next election but if we are complacent or apathetic about the way things are going we will loose this war.

      Liberals are notoriously lazy about voting and that is the problem.
      Get out and VOTE in the next elections before it is too late to save our country from the Tea Party idiots that are trying to destroy our county.
      VOTE!!!

    • 9 months ago
  • artemis6
    • +1
      artemis6  
    • FoosMaster:

      Bravo , in my experience Bullies are ALWAYS stupid . Liberals are not actually lazy , the elections are rigged , and have been for years . There are not enough ignorant people to elect some of these people without cheating ..... Bullies also lack integrity . But you know that .

    • 9 months ago
  • OlBlue
    • 0
      OlBlue  

    • I truly feel sorry for the people of Texas with all the dumbing down, pollution, severe class disparity, etc, etc. etc.

      To add insult to injury, they're now in the national spotlight, putting their lousy situation out there for all to see due to the platform given to Perry.

      I'm hoping that, in the long run, it will turn into a positive for them in that their problems will be legitimately addressed, with or without the good governor's assistance.

      Hang in there Texans and persevere through this. Although Santa Anna won that first round back when, you can defeat Perry's attacks in this, your Alamo revisited.

    • 9 months ago
  • ScoticusRex
  • OlBlue
  • artemis6
  • OlBlue
    • +1
      OlBlue  
    • artemis6:

      Crap! How did Texas become the arbiter of the contents of school books? TEXAS of all places. Time to get em printed somewhere else. How about a place NOT in the Bible Belt.

    • 9 months ago
  • artemis6
    • 0
      artemis6  
    • OlBlue:

      Problem is , still gotta SELL books TO the bible belt . Many of those people are determined to remain IGNORANT , and they want the rest of us to join them . Publishers fear them , they are hardly scraping by as it is .There will always be slow adapters in the world , until we find a cure .... There will be bullies .

    • 9 months ago
  • Richard_Wyatt
  • EarnestT
    • +3
      EarnestT  
    • Image

    • They`ll never be happy till they get to teach,and preach the Bible in class. It`s the Perry way,everybody must be a good little Christian.study revisionist history and tithe unto the church and the Governor!

    • 9 months ago
  • SandyBerman
    • SandyBerman  
    • This comment was removed as a violation of community guidelines.
  • EarnestT
    • +3
      EarnestT  
    • SandyBerman:

      Did you hear the Wack-A-Doodle from Waco" the other day? He opines that a college degree is not necessary to a young person to get ahead. His idea,They can go to a Vo-Tech school and then go to work in the Texas oil fields! Problem? Since he busted unions and deregulated the labor pool in his terms as Governor,those jobs pay low wages,no benefits and rarely lead to any advancement beyond an early death from starvation,and exhaustion!

    • 9 months ago
  • Schnookums
    • +7
      Schnookums  
    • SandyBerman:

      "A nation under a well regulated government, should permit none to remain uninstructed. It is monarchical and aristocratical government only that requires ignorance for its support." -Thomas Paine, 1792, Rights of Man

    • 9 months ago
  • CalgarC
    • +2
      CalgarC  

    • school sucks anyway, google is more efficient :D so is wikipedia, instructables, treehugger, artists house music, you get the idea :D

    • 9 months ago
  • cherry5000
  • mickyjon420
    • +2
      mickyjon420  
    • cherry5000:

      High Cherry, Sorry to burst your bubble there dear, it seems like their tentacles of ignorant self destruction is reaching to the minds of the rest of America. P.S. I too am glad you weren't born in Texas myself.

    • 9 months ago
  • remanns
  • warman1138
  • kvb1
    • +1
      kvb1  
    • warman1138:

      Everything will remain bigger in TX, even the amount of uneducated and misinformed. They will always be bigger in TX. Maybe the next thing will be to restrict the internet there as a states right issue.

    • 9 months ago
  • FoosMaster
    • +1
      FoosMaster  
    • kvb1:

      If the new "Net Neutrality" law passes it will be restricted Everywhere by corporations that will have Full controle of the sites you have access to and how fast you can get your information. Support Al Franken in his fight against it!

    • 9 months ago
  • Leen61
    • +5
      Leen61  

    • I'd heard about how the Texas school board approved this radical re-writing of the history books. Texas will create an entire generation of ill informed and mis-informed students. They're seeing to the creation of an Idiocracy.

    • 9 months ago
  • notsure
  • MDBard
  • Leen61
  • artemis6
  • Anonmaly
  • warman1138
  • RevKen
    • +2
      RevKen  

    • American History needs to be taught accurately as it happened. If people throughout history did things that are not acceptable by today's standards then this should be brought to the students attention and discussed.

      Today's youth are not stupid simply because they are young. They know where to get information and the brightest students will see that they are being lied to. This will cause them to distrust everything taught to them. The less motivated students will simply accept what they are taught as fact and set themselves up for a life of being manipulated by those with an agenda (i.e. The Republican Party)

    • 9 months ago
  • kvb1
    • +2
      kvb1  
    • RevKen:

      American history was never taught accurately. John Hancock acquired his wealth as a rum runner to avoid paying taxes. Washington was involved in the Revolution because British law stopped westward expansion of the colonies, and he had staked substantial holdings in the western part of VA and the Ohio valley, as well as many other VA Patriots. For the wealthy the war was more about fewer restrictions on making money, while the rest of the population was sold on freedom from unelected officials.

      Washington was constantly being undermined by other generals during the War, with Horatio Gates and the Conway Cabal trying to discredit Washington and replace him with Gates; Benedict Arnold who always felt slighted by Gates, and was ready to give the war to the British.

      The Americans were never united in their fight with the British for freedom. New England's reasons for joining were different than the South's. New York and New Hampshire were at olds over the land that was to become Vermont, and although Ethan Allen fought for the Americans, he was also negotiating with the British to keep Vermont separate should the Revolution fail.

      The real history of America is bathed in myth and legends. By hiding the true past of the nation, we fail to see where we went wrong and why we changed directions. "Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it".
      Edmund Burke

    • 9 months ago
  • RevKen
    • +1
      RevKen  
    • kvb1:

      Some of the things you discuss I have heard but never in school. The History Channel is pretty good about telling us the rest of the story, as it were.

    • 9 months ago
  • FoosMaster
  • bailey78
  • MDBard
  • bailey78
  • Debra_
    • -1
      Debra_  
    • bailey78:

      Utterly false. The whole nation is not a giant trailer park full of cowboys and Indians like Texas. Much of the South is yes. But not the rest of the nation.

      For example in New York we have public restrooms and public education facilities. I could mail some literature on what probably seems like a novel subject if you are interested.

    • 9 months ago
  • bailey78
    • 0
      bailey78  
    • Debra_:

      We have public restrooms here to. An also public education facilities...I see you know nothing about Texas other than what you read in some magazine. What a shame so closed minded and ignorant in so many ways . Yet a teacher none the less.. An folks wonder whats wrong the America.

    • 9 months ago
  • Debra_
    • -3
      Debra_  

    • Texas is a hot-bed for ignorance and inbreeding, as is much of the south. Little surprise that they have to dumb down the curriculum for their trailer trash residents.

    • 9 months ago
  • squarethecircle
  • Debra_
  • FoosMaster
    • 0
      FoosMaster  
    • Debra_:

      So, do you think we should just abbandon Texas and let them suffer through the rein of the Religious Fanatics and Big Oil? I say let's keep up the fight for our Liberal / Progressive ideas for ALL of our country. I actually feel sorry for most of the folks in Texas.

    • 9 months ago
  • squarethecircle
  • moodyblue
    • +4
      moodyblue  

    • Cut Texas some slack! They're just trying to ensure that Texas stays a red state forever. Uninformed and uneducated individuals vote republican. They're simply thinking of their future... That's right, their future - the politicians. Screw the children.

    • 9 months ago
  • mickyjon420
    • +1
      mickyjon420  
    • moodyblue:

      Hey moody how are you doing? I do believe you may be right about keeping the populace ignorant. Could I just ad that what the future the politicians are thinking of will only end in destruction, I think that if we look at ancient Egypt culture even with the addition of the Bible, we can see that human destruction is like a perpetual motion machine. What may be "good" for some may be destructive to others, majority does not alway "rule" when destruction of others is evident. The consistency of hatred, and intolerance through out "human" history screams like a wild banshee on the trail of the damned. "United We Stand" has been perverted to cause good people to throw out their beliefs just to fit in and not be attacked. Texas was introduced to us as "THE REPUBLIC, not "The STATE" of Texas, I say kick them out of the Union. I have cousins in Texas perpetuating the myths of religion, and I am ashamed to say we are related. Our future may yet be written, OUR HISTORY has, and we are doomed to keep repeating the destructions that have ended many of our past civilizations.

    • 9 months ago
  • MDBard
  • mickyjon420
  • hammywill
    • +1
      hammywill  
    • moodyblue:

      While I am in complete agreement with the assessment of Texas' idiocy, I do hate it when people equate education to intelligence. I have met more stupid educated people than I have stupid uneducated people.

      That being said, education is still important, and Texas is determined to not only have an uneducated population, but one that is actively retarded. (and I do not mean retarded in the colloquial sense, but the literal one.)

    • 9 months ago
  • moodyblue
  • moodyblue
  • mickyjon420
  • hammywill
  • SIBob
    • +3
      SIBob  
    • Image

    • Some Texans seem to be proud of their ostrich mentality. Rick Perry is the prime example. This great American lie, which has been carried forward by Hollywood and the education systems across this country, is a distortion of truth and an injustice to the students. Without independent reading I would never have heard of the great Americans who go unmentioned; like Eugene V. Debs, Mother Jones, Big Bill Haywood, John Peter Altgeld, and many others. None of these individuals were covered in my New York City Board of Education program. Even in college, “touchy” subjects are avoided. I took a few classes a little over a year ago, one in world history. The professor took us from the Renaissance to the Cold War, without one mention of the revolutions of 1848, 1871 or 1917. This was in 2009, in the City University of New York. It is as if by ignoring facts that are “uncomfortable”, we can make them go away, and preserve our pristine American “fantasy”. http://sibob.org/wordpress/

    • 9 months ago
  • remanns
  • remanns
  • Schnookums
  • bailey78
  • remanns
  • mrtraffic
  • NothingIsAbsoluteTruth
  • Kenneth_Green
    • +4
      Kenneth_Green  

    • It looks like TX having the lowest High School graduation rate in the country doesn't matter. They aren't going to teach them anything of value anyway.

    • 9 months ago
  • Wyley_Wombat
  • bailey78
  • bike10
  • MDBard
  • bailey78
  • Milieu
    • +3
      Milieu  

    • Molly Ivins wrote for many years about the institutionalized stupidity that passes for the Texas State Board of Education.

      She was the first "Name" who pointed out that Texas' NCLB (an Education Pogrom created in Tex-ass) showed the rise of ignorance.

      For every point the Texas state tests rose, there was corresponding drop in the Nationally Standardized test scores.

    • 9 months ago
  • Simone_Castillo
  • Schnookums
  • Argon18
    • +4
      Argon18  
    • Simone_Castillo:

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_wmASF3jYA

      "They'll never stay home and the're always alone, even with someone they love"

      That's no way to live when history repeats itself because the lessons weren't learned from it.

      At least some in California have taken steps to avoid that problem since the California Senate, seeks to erect a statutory wall, blocking Texas influenced textbooks from reaching public schools in the Golden State.

      SB 1451 was sponsored by Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) and does not mince words. The bill describes the Texas Education Board's curriculum changes as "a sharp departure from widely accepted historical teachings."

      Under the proposed law, the California Board of Education would be required to review any Texas-influenced content as part of its standard practice of reviewing public school textbooks. The board must then report any findings to the legislature and to the secretary of education.

    • 9 months ago
  • remanns
  • cherry5000
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